


the pale crone's smile

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [221]
Category: Original Work
Genre: BAMF Women, F/M, Fractured Fairy Tale, Goddesses, Women Being Awesome, Women In Power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 22:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2405495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a queen wed to a king in a distant land. The king wages war against all of his neighbors but one. For that one, he need only wait; his father-in-law is growing old. His brother-in-law is weak-willed and flighty. <i>Like a woman</i>, he laughs with his council. </p><p>His wife hears him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the pale crone's smile

**Author's Note:**

> Title: the pale crone’s smile  
> Original, PG, het  
> Wordcount: 365  
> Prompt: any, any, Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box. ~Italian Proverb

"Do you think they'd believe, if you told them?" the dark handmaiden asks, glancing up from the queen's hem. The thread is fraying; it is time to summon a seamstress. 

The queen smiles at her. "Of course not, dear," she says gently. "Men never believe what women tell them. That is why, when the dust settles and the blood dries, we are victorious." 

.

When the queen was still the princess of another land, before she was sold for half the territory and gold enough to fund three wars, she prayed for the strength to survive. 

A goddess answered -- but it was not the one to whom she had prayed. 

"Do you know me, child?" the pale crone asked. 

"Yes," she murmured, lowering all the way to the ground, her forehead touching the dirt. 

"Rise," the pale crone said, one finger touching the princess's hair. "Rise and know the greatest truth." 

She rose to her full height, beneath a dark moon, and she smiled the pale crone's smile. 

.

There is a queen wed to a king in a distant land. The king wages war against all of his neighbors but one. For that one, he need only wait; his father-in-law is growing old. His brother-in-law is weak-willed and flighty. _Like a woman_ , he laughs with his council. 

His wife hears him. She shares a glance with her dark handmaiden, a pale smile hidden on both their lips. 

.

The pale crone has a dark sister. 

Their sister, prayed to by most as the Great Mother, tells them, "This is a dangerous game you play. My husband grows impatient." 

The pale crone cackles. "Is that not like a man?" She and her dark sister share a smile. 

"It is a dangerous game," the dark sister agrees, blood on her teeth. "But we play to win.”

.

The king wages war on multiple fronts, and his gold is growing low. The people are unhappy -- their brothers and their sons and their husbands come home in fewer numbers all the time. 

The queen prays on a moonless night, her dark handmaiden beside her, and she rises with the pale crone's smile and the shadow of blood on her lips.


End file.
